Background to this inspection
Updated
27 October 2022
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and 1 Expert-by-Experience. An Expert-by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type
This service provides care and support to people living in 6 ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.
Registered Manager
This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.
At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. The new manager had applied to the Commission to be registered as manager of the service. We are currently assessing the application.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was unannounced.
Inspection activity started remotely off-site on 20 September 2022 and ended on 10 October 2022. We visited the location’s office on 29 September 2022.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with 5 people and 4 relatives about their experience of the care provided. Not everyone who used the service communicated verbally or wished to speak on the telephone, therefore they gave us permission to speak with their relative. We spoke with 9 members of staff including the manager and 8 support workers. We received feedback from 6 health and social care professionals.
We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.
We reviewed a range of records. This included 4 people’s care records and 2 medicine records. We looked at 4 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff training. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including training information, policies and procedures and quality assurance documents were reviewed.
Updated
27 October 2022
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
About the service
Burnfoot Court is a supported living service providing personal care to people in their own homes. The service provides support to younger adults with a learning disability or autism spectrum disorder. At the time of our inspection there were 6 people using the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.
Right Support
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests.
Staff worked hard to balance keeping the person safe, but in the least restrictive way. The service used Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) to help ensure there were positive strategies in place. PBS is a person-centred framework for providing support to people with a learning disability, and/or autism, including those with mental health conditions, who have, or may be at risk of developing, behaviours that challenge.
People were supported to make choices and achieve their aspirations.
People had opportunities to be part of the community.
People were provided with person-centred care that enabled them to develop skills and behaviours to live more independent lives.
People were supported to access specialist health and social care support.
A professional commented, “My opinion is that the staff members are very caring, trustworthy, hardworking and effective in meeting the service users’ needs. I think the overall service is excellent.”
Right Care
Staff were appropriately skilled.
Care was person-centred and promoted people’s dignity, privacy and human rights.
People and most relatives were complimentary about the care provided by staff. They trusted the staff who supported them. They said staff were kind, caring and supportive of people and their families. A relative told us, “I really am happy with the care and I think [Name] would say that as well.”
Staff understood people's preferred ways of communicating.
Staff had received safeguarding training and were clear on how and when to raise their concerns. Where appropriate, actions were taken to keep people safe.
Staff followed effective processes to assess and provide the support people needed to take their medicines safely.
People could take part in activities and follow interests that were tailored to them. They had the opportunity to try new activities.
There were sufficient staff to support people safely. There were a number of staff vacancies and the provider had a contingency plan in place to ensure people were safely and effectively supported, with minimum disruption to their lives.
We have made a recommendation that the provider continues with their recruitment drive to employ permanent staff.
People's support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life.
Right Culture
The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensured people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.
There was a positive atmosphere at the service. Staff spoke very positively about working at the service and the people they cared for. Staff said the manager was very approachable and they were supported in their role.
A governance system was in place to monitor the quality of the service through audits and feedback received from people, their relatives, staff and external agencies. Processes were in place to manage and respond to complaints and concerns.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 12 December 2019).
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to staffing and people’s care. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, caring and well-led only.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe, caring and well-led sections of this full report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Burnfoot Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.